McGrady becomes his own worst criticRockets star sees time he will overcome physical limitations

By Jonathan Feigen |
January 6, 2009

Rockets forward Tracy McGrady says critics can kick him now that he's down, but promises he'll get the last laugh.

PHILADELPHIA — The criticism, Tracy McGrady said, never bothered him. This was different.

He heard he did not play hard against the Raptors, with far less effort than he thought. He was censured for playing badly all season, for falling far from his previous level of play.

He had heard it before, but this time, he could not ignore the critic. This time, he was the one talking.

“I criticize myself,” McGrady said Monday. “I can take it from anybody, from everybody. I know my ability. And when I do get right, all that … is put to rest. So kick me when I’m down, because I swear to you, I’ll be back up. And when I get back up, I’m going to sit back, and I’m going to laugh, man, because I’m going to have the last laugh.

“Right now, I’m down. I’m physically down.”

Sometimes contrite, other times defiant, McGrady, 29, said he has been shaken by poor play he believes to be brought on by his struggles to get over knee surgery eight months ago today.

He said he thought he had played harder against the Raptors than what he saw when he reviewed video of the game and that he did not realize the scoring opportunities he ignored.

Though McGrady said “I haven’t played well all year” and that it was “crazy” that he is second among Western Conference guards in the All-Star voting, he said his particularly poor play in a 94-73 loss to Toronto on Friday came from the frustration over his physical limitations.

“Without a doubt,” McGrady said. “It’s a matter of trying to come out and trying to compete physically. I look back at some of the tapes of some of my games, and in those games, I feel like I’m trying to go hard, but I look, and I’m not. I don’t have it. In my mind, I think I’m going hard. But physically, I don’t have it.”

McGrady said that when he watched the video, he saw he was not moving on either end of the court the way he thought he had and that he had passed up shots and scoring opportunities that he had not realized were there.

Tales of the tape

“I always watch film,” McGrady said. “That’s just being a student of the game, but especially now because I want to see how I’m moving. I want to see what kind of shots I can get. I’m limited in some of the things I can do on the court now. It’s really frustrating.

“There are all sorts of things I see out there. It’s tough, man. You think about pretty much seven, eight years being on top, being one of the elites, and then you have a big letdown, a big drop-off, from being one of the elites to being just average now and people writing you off, that’s frustrating.”

Coach Rick Adelman spoke with him Monday about McGrady’s determination to play through his limitations.

“That’s what he has to do,” Adelman said. “He has to be aggressive no matter what. The other night, we were playing poorly as a team, and he became very unaggressive. He can’t play that way, (or) he’s not going to get through it or out of it, and we aren’t going to be any good.

“We have to find more ways to make sure we have room to operate, but it’s got to be an aggressive approach every time he plays.

“I spoke to him about it because he’s not going to get anywhere unless he keeps pushing himself. It’s in practice, too. It’s a mindset. Sometimes when things don’t go well, that’s when you have to work even harder.

“Like I told him today, ‘There’s going to be times you’re going to succeed and times you’re going to fail, but that shouldn’t have an effect on how hard you play. You have to play through the good times and the bad times.’ ”

McGrady, a 6-8 guard, is averaging 15 points per game, his lowest average since his second NBA season. He is making 39 percent of his shots overall and 39 percent of his 3s while averaging 4.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists. But he said his impact is not entirely shown in assists.

“Regardless of if I’m out there hobbling around, I make guys better,” he said. “There are other things I can do. It’s a proven fact.”

The Rockets agree.

Positive influence

In the 26 games McGrady has played this season, the Rockets have averaged six points per game more when McGrady is on the court than we he is off, slightly behind team leader Shane Battier and roughly tied with Yao Ming, though at a level similar to past seasons.

The Rockets find that even this season, the number of McGrady passes that lead directly to points, if not always assists, is among the NBA leaders.

Even when talking about the need for more, Rockets management has pointed out those successes. But friends have kept McGrady informed about criticism from fans and media.

“People tell me,” he said, with emotion filling his voice. “They know how I eat that up. They know how I take that all in and use it as motivation. I’ve never been a guy to be criticized and go home and go in my closet and boo-hoo cry. I was criticized when I was a young fella coming into this league, criticized by my own coach (Butch Carter), saying I wouldn’t last three years in this league.